Islamic apparel boutique opens in Orlando mall

The owners held a grand opening Saturday for an Islamic women’s apparel boutique at an Orlando shopping mall, one of the first of its kind in the nation. The 1,000-square-foot Verona Collection is between a Dillard’s store and The Limited at the Orlando Fashion Square Mall. The designer of the boutique’s apparel, Windermere-based Lisa Vogl, told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel that the Verona Collection serves the needs of Muslim women who want apparel that is fashionable and covers them, in accordance with their religion.

The newspaper also cited a report by Thomson Reuters and DinarStandard that Muslim consumers in 2014 spent $230 billion on apparel, or 11 percent of the total worldwide. Fortune magazine proclaimed in the headline of a 2015 article on Muslim consumers that Muslim women are “the next big untapped fashion market.” [Orlando Sentinel] — Mike Seemuth